BANGKOK, 20th September 2013 The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has revealed that the Thai SMEs’ competitiveness index for the second quarter of 2013 dropped 2.1 points.
Overall business conditions are stable, with an index of 61.3, decreasing only 0.2 points although competitiveness has dropped due to higher costs of production. On the whole, SME business conditions have improved for the North, North east, and South, whereas those in the Central region have been having difficulties competing with their rivals.
SMEs in the trade field are the only ones of which the index was up compared to the past quarter’s. As for SMEs in the real sector, the rates of non-performing loans (NPLs) are too high.
The SME competitiveness index in the first quarter slipped to 57.5, down by 2.0 points from the first quarter. SMEs in every region are currently impacted by rising material and production costs. The SME sustainability index fell by 4.1, from 57.7 to 43.6.
